abraxaslogs | A much deserved vacation day!

Who: The Free Cities Summoned
What: Beach Party Episode, aka the Summoned take a break and enjoy the new portal
When: June 6thish, post Nocwich weekend. We can timey wimey it folks.
Where: Aquila!

[ooc: these are just suggested prompts, please feel free to roll with any ideas you have! Thanks to Hannah for sharing the code. Descriptions about Aquila are taken from the settings page here and credited to the mods. A player-made Pinterest mood board was created here for inspiration, but keep the world of Abraxas in mind for the reality.]

The Aquila Portal / Time to Go!

An invite shows up on the network from Jesper Fahey to the Free Cities Summoned stating the following:

Hey everyone, I managed to score funds from our money makers to have a group outing through the Aquila portal. We deserve it, don't you think? We did vote it into being after all. So get out your beach day clothes (or lack thereof) and meet at 9 AM tomorrow. If you come later, I'll let the portal people know the list allowed. They've got chairs and such to rent there, so don't worry if you don't have anything helpful.

Let's party like we're in the Horizon! If you need some extra cash while there I know the people to beg.

PS - No arguing, Crows. (That means you Kaz.)

True to his word, Jesper will be waiting at the newly opened portal to mark the Summoned so they're allowed to get through with the money he's collected. He'll smile and wink at them as they go through. He is dressed casually himself for this outing and in high spirits. Summoned can meet up here and go through together if they'd like or maybe be persuaded if they're not really sure about it.

Welcome to Aquila!

Aquila is the world's fastest-growing economy and the scenery in Aquila is also considered some of the most beautiful, with both the mountains and beaches of Andromeda Bay nearby, making it a popular destination for vacationers.

The beach may be exciting, but it isn't the only part of Aquila to enjoy! The massive public market takes up most of the city's center. Anything you might want can be found here. Countless booths and stalls and carts fill the town's center, and traders from all across the nation congregate to offer their wares. From raw materials such as fabrics, dyes, exotic wood and stones, to finely crafted artisan everything. Furniture, clothing, foodstuffs, weapons, art, magical oddities, it's all here. The market opens at sun-up and shuts down sometime after sunset - plenty of sellers will linger, hoping for one last sale of the day.

Art and fashion thrive in Aquila. Studios and galleries of art are scattered all over the city and artists sketching or painting out on the streets or on the nearby beaches are a common sight. This is the time to go looking for new clothes as seamstresses and tailors are all looking to outdo themselves and create the next big fashion statement.

But if it's the beach fun you're looking for ....

Fun in the Sun!

It's more crowded than usual in Aquila thanks to the emergence of the portal, but the Summoned will manage to camp out their own area on the right side of the beach and have freedom to enjoy themselves alone. Nearby one of the entrances of the beach is a local business called The Wave Palace. There people can buy or rent chairs, cloth to sit on, hats, and other beach items to feel more comfortable.

Once settled onto their spot on the beach, the Summoned can enjoy a full day of various activities to either relax or be active. They can swim or race to see who is the better swimmer, do the same on a sand race, and head up to a popular nearby cliff that is perfect to jump off of. Challenge each other to the perfect dive or laugh if someone ends up belly-flopping.

Anyone can lounge comfortably in the sun or maybe they want to get creative and build sandcastles. They can rent bowls and sticks and other instruments at the shop to gather sand correctly. Maybe your castle is remarkably impressive or dismal at best, but the point is to have fun. If you're feeling mischievous you can bury a friend in sand, or even a stranger if you want to test fate. You can find rocks or shells to collect and bring home as a reminder of the trip here.

There is a bar down the beach called The Wave Crash Pub where people can sit and listen to live music or carry drinks back to their chair. At some point in the day, someone suggests playing a game of volleyball or something similar, and a net and ball can be found to set it up. Test your might against each other and no cheating! (Just kidding, cheat away.)

As the day comes to a close, stay long enough to watch the sunset together or do some night swimming to cool off. When it's time to go home, don't forget to either return your rented items or decide to buy it. See if you can convince a friend to get a keepsake or ask their opinion of one on the way out. Hope you all had fun in this beach day episode!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Diana is... surprised at the wisdom in that. Not because it came from a mortal man--no, because she doesn't think anyone would have ever said that to her. Even when she had pushed the boundaries of what she knew her mother would allow (sometimes breaking them altogether), she had done it only because something in her heart had told her it was right.

The question makes her pause for a few moments, as she considers. Eventually she nods, but speaks slowly, as if she's hesitant to admit this. "I had a place," she explains. "Everyone knew who I was meant to be--except me. They only ever gave me half the picture. So I remember... searching. Trying to figure out what the missing piece was."

"Why the fuck wouldn't they tell you what you're suppose to do, are you like meant to destroy the world or something?" See, she didn't know where she was going, because nobody knew where they were going. Parents had ideas for their kids, but nothing was ever that easy. Her parents thought she'd be better at school. She was pretty sure Max's parents probably visualized a straight wedding for Max when she was old enough.

But how do you know, and not tell them?

That exchange kind of cemented Diana wasn't anyone like her, some quiet earth with a quiet life, not if adults knew what you were meant to do before you did. Another barrier that seemed impossible to pass and be understood. "Anyway, I'm still figuring out who the fuck I am. So sometimes I just- sometimes shit bothers me."

Diana doesn't... flinch, exactly, but she does, briefly, look a little uncomfortable at that. "No," she says, with a slightest hint of that discomfort in her voice. Not exactly, anyway. "I was born to be a weapon, but my mother was very protective of me. She did not want me to lead the life of a warrior, and her word is law. So nobody told me." That's the simplest explanation she can give; sometimes, it's still hard for her to wrap her own mind around.

She pauses again, but nods. "I don't think that's a bad thing," she offers. "Figuring out who you are is a process, and it can be a tumultuous one. And being able to admit that you are still finding yourself may mean you are closer to doing so than you think."

Honestly everything about that explanation made it worse, and then a further worse a layer down. Abby was still mad about the whole perfectly sculpted everything of Diana's physique, but now she had all of this to find fucked up on top of it. "So you're a weapon, but your mom, who I assume was a part of your coming into being, didn't want you to be a weapon. So she ordered everyone to lie to you growing up. Am I getting this mess right?"

It is important to be mad about things with a full and accurate picture of what is happening.

"I'm not," Abby offers, "Knowing you're at the bottom of a fucking well doesn't give you a ladder. It just means you know you're fucked." All the metrics, all the measures she had to figure out who she is, what she can do with herself, told her 'not enough.' She didn't measure up and she hadn't found a good way to cheat the system yet. She didn't have her out, and she wasn't finding it. All she found were living lifesize examples of how little she could do.

It's... difficult to hear it all put so plainly, but Diana nods. The truth isn't always easy to hear, after all. "She was scared," Diana offers. It isn't an excuse, but just another layer. "I was hunted from the moment of my birth, and she wanted to shield me from that." There's no telling what would have happened if Ares had been able to find her as a child.

Having never dealt with teenagers before, Diana doesn't really know that sometimes, you just have to let things go. "Would you rather not know?" Another genuine question. "Knowing where you are means you can work to move to a better place."

"If you knew, would that have made you harder to hide?" Abby is still very visibly upset by... all of this. And there's not really a good answer for it, and Abby's pretty fucking sure. If only because she's watched Ginny slowly come unraveled by whatever the fuck her mom did.

"And does knowing change what you are?" Which should help answer where Abby stands about her own fucked up issues. She's better off knowing her parents are fucked up, and how that has washed down on her. But there's only so much she can do, and it doesn't really get her out of the metaphorical well. "Not knowing would hurt more, that's about all it changes."

Diana shrugs, and gives the most honest answer she can. "I think I wouldn't have stayed on the island as long as I did." She thinks of her single-minded pursuit of Ares once she knew he was out there. She had more or less run right into his grasp then, and what if she hadn't had thousands of years of training behind her? There's no telling what might have happened.

"By itself, it doesn't," she accedes. "But it at least lets you know where you stand. I think I would take that over ignorance."

A much deserved vacation day!

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